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Thursday, March 8, 2018

Lakes out of bounds for people! Crippling amendments to Tank Development Act

On 23rd February, the state government passed amendments to the Tank Development Act transferring all lakes to the Minor Irrigation Department (MID). It repeals the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Act which had provided for active community participation.

To add insult to injury, the amendments were adopted with sparse attendance in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday 22nd Feb. 2018 and passed the next day, on 23rd Feb., in the Legislative Council in haste, without any discussion or debate.

We are various citizen groups across Bengaluru who for the past several years have been deeply involved in the restoration, protection and preservation of the water bodies in our respective localities. We know from experience that public participation is vital to the nurturing water bodies.

Mismanagement by the authorities over the years caused the extinction of hundreds of lakes in the city. We cannot allow them to finish off the few surviving ones. We have formally appealed to the Hon'ble Governor to return the amendments bill. Please join us by signing this online petition.